The matter disclosed herein relates to an image producing apparatus, an image producing system, a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon an image producing program which is executed on the image producing apparatus or the image producing system, and an image producing method. Specifically, the matter disclosed herein relates to an image producing apparatus, an image producing system, a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon an image producing program which is executed on the image producing apparatus or the image producing system, and an image producing method, which are relevant to technology for providing a stereoscopic view function.
Conventionally, when a video game being executed is displayed on a display screen, the entirety or a part of the displayed image is acquired as a screenshot, and the screenshot is used as a record of a user's game play or for communications between users.
When a screenshot is acquired by the above technology during a game and is then reproduced, the reproduced image is displayed in the same planar visible manner as that of the screenshot acquired. That is, if the acquired screenshot is reproduced, a user merely views the same image as that displayed during the game once. Therefore, even if a user has acquired a screenshot, the screenshot is not much interesting to the user. In addition, the conventional technology does not have a motivation for transferring a taken screenshot to another apparatus having a different display manner.
An exemplary object of the technology disclosed herein is to provide an image producing apparatus capable of producing a screenshot having an increased interest.
The technology for achieving the above feature can be provided in the following aspects, as an example. The following specific description is in all aspects illustrative for the understanding of the extent of the technology disclosed herein, and is not intended to be limited thereto. That is, it should be understood that, from the specific description, a person skilled in the art can implement the technology in the equivalent range based on the description of the technology and on the common technological knowledge.
In one aspect, the disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon an image producing program which is executed by a computer of an image producing apparatus which produces an image to be displayed on a display apparatus for planar view. The image producing program causes the computer to function as: a first image producing section; a display control section; a second image producing section; and a stereoscopic view image storage control section.
The first image producing section produces a planar view image by taking an image of a virtual space with a reference virtual camera for providing planar view of the virtual space. The display control section displays the planar view image on the display apparatus. The second image producing section, while the planar view image is displayed on the display apparatus, sets a stereoscopic view virtual camera on the basis of a setting of the reference virtual camera and takes an image of the virtual space with the stereoscopic view virtual camera, thereby producing a stereoscopic view image that includes an image for right eye and an image for left eye which are obtained based on at least two viewpoints. The stereoscopic view image storage control section stores the stereoscopic view image in a storage apparatus without outputting the stereoscopic view image to the display apparatus.
In one embodiment, the stereoscopic view image storage section may store the stereoscopic view image in the storage apparatus while the planar view image is displayed on the display apparatus, without outputting the stereoscopic view image to the display apparatus.
In the above embodiment, the second image producing section may produce the stereoscopic view image such that the image of the virtual space taken with the stereoscopic view virtual camera includes a predetermined area of the image of the virtual space taken by the first image producing section.
In the above embodiment, the second image producing section may set a right virtual camera and a left virtual camera as the stereoscopic view virtual camera for producing the image for right eye and the image for left eye, such that a view volume of the left virtual camera and a view volume of the right virtual camera each include a predetermined area in a view volume of the reference virtual camera, and may take an image of the virtual space with the set left virtual camera and the set right virtual camera, thereby producing the image for right eye and the image for left eye.
In another embodiment, the second image producing section may set a right virtual camera and a left virtual camera as the stereoscopic view virtual camera for producing the image for right eye and the image for left eye, such that the left virtual camera and the right virtual camera are each directed in the same visual line direction as the reference virtual camera, and translated, on a virtual plane containing the visual line, so as to have a positional relationship in which the reference virtual camera is positioned between the left virtual camera and the right virtual camera, and may take an image of the virtual space with the set left virtual camera and the set right virtual camera, thereby producing the image for right eye and the image for left eye.
In still another embodiment, the second image producing section may set a right virtual camera and a left virtual camera as the stereoscopic view virtual camera for producing the image for right eye and the image for left eye, such that the interval between the left virtual camera and the right virtual camera is adjusted in accordance with the position, in the imaging direction of the reference virtual camera, of a predetermined object included in the imaging range of the reference virtual camera, and may take an image of the virtual space with the set left virtual camera and the set right virtual camera, thereby producing the image for right eye and the image for left eye.
In the above embodiment, the second image producing section sets the stereoscopic view virtual camera such that the farther the predetermined object is from the stereoscopic view virtual camera, the smaller the interval between the left virtual camera and the right virtual camera is.
In various embodiments, the image producing program may further cause the computer to function as: an operation detection section configured to detect a user's predetermined operation, and the second image producing section may produce the stereoscopic view image in accordance with the detection of the user's predetermined operation by the operation detection section.
In various embodiments, the image producing program may further cause the computer to function as: a condition determination section configured to determine whether or not a setting used for the first image producing section to produce the planar view image satisfies a predetermined condition, and the second image producing section may automatically produce the stereoscopic view image if the condition determination section has determined that the setting satisfies the predetermined condition.
In various embodiments, the storage apparatus may be provided as a storage medium detachable from the image producing apparatus.
In various embodiments, the storage apparatus may be provided as a volatile storage medium included in or connected to the image producing apparatus.
In another embodiment, the above image producing program may be provided as an apparatus for realizing a function provided by the image producing program, or a system that includes one or a plurality of apparatuses connected to each other in a communicable manner. In addition, the technology disclosed herein includes an image producing method implemented in the computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the image producing program, the apparatus, or the system as described above.
(Terms Particularly Used Herein)
In addition, as used herein, a “computer-readable storage medium” refers to any apparatus or medium capable of storing a program, a code, and/or data to be used in a computer system. The computer-readable storage medium may be any one of a volatile device and a nonvolatile device as long as it can be read by a computer system. Examples of computer-readable storage media include a magnetic tape, a hard disc drive (HDD), a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc (BD), a semiconductor memory, but the exemplary embodiments are not limited thereto.
In addition, as used herein, a “system” (for example, a game system or an information processing system) may include one apparatus, or may include a plurality of apparatuses each of which can communicate with another one of the apparatuses.
As used herein, a state where an apparatus or system is “connected” to another apparatus or system is not limited to a state of being connected by a line, and can include a state of being wirelessly connected.
As used herein, the “stereoscopic view” is one function of human binocular vision. Specifically, the “stereoscopic view” refers to a function of obtaining a sense of depth from a difference between retinal images of both eyes.
As used herein, the “stereoscopic view image” refers to an image or image group that has a characteristic of being perceived as a stereoscopically visible image with a sense of depth by an observer in a state where the image is visibly provided (e.g., the image has a characteristic of reflecting a binocular disparity). For example, the “stereoscopic view image” refers to an image that provides a sense of depth to an observer when the observer views the image from a specific direction. When exemplified, the “stereoscopic view image” can be represented as a collection of density values provided to points in a space that is defined by three coordinate axes that are two free space coordinate axes and one spatial axis which corresponds to the specific direction.
Specifically, the stereoscopic view image includes at least one pair of a portion (an image for a right eye) to be viewed by the right eye of an observer of the image and a portion (an image for a left eye) to be viewed by the left eye of the observer of the image. Typically, the stereoscopic view image can be provided in a predetermined format including images (multi-view images) taken from a plurality of viewpoints. As a format for providing a stereoscopic view image, an image for a left eye and an image for a right eye may be stored as an image (one file) including these images arranged side by side. In addition, the stereoscopic view image may be provided in a predetermined format in which additional information is provided as necessary to information corresponding to these individual images. For example, examples of a format for providing a stereoscopic view image include, but are not limited to, a multi-picture format (MPO format).
It should be noted that the stereoscopic view image may be composed of an image or image group having a structure in which a portion serving as an image for a left eye and a portion serving as an image for a right eye are divided and rearranged as appropriate according to the properties of a display device to be used. For example, the stereoscopic view image may be provided in a form where an image for a left eye and an image for a right eye that are produced as separate images are divided into aligned rectangle-shaped images each having one line of pixels in the vertical direction.
As described above, the stereoscopic view image can be in any form as long as the stereoscopic view image has a function to provide a characteristic of being perceived as a stereoscopically visible image with a sense of depth by an observer.
When the individual images constituting the stereoscopic view image are provided as still image data, the still image data can be provided in any digital image format. Examples of major file formats capable of handling still images include, but are not limited to, JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), BMP (Bitmap), and TIFF (Tagged Image File Format).
As used herein, the “stereoscopic display” refers to a device that displays a video image that is stereoscopically viewed by an observer or a video image (image) from which an observer obtains a sense of depth. Specifically, examples of the stereoscopic display include an autostereoscopic display and an eyeglasses type stereoscopic display. Examples of the autostereoscopic display include, but are not limited to, a parallax barrier type stereoscopic display device and a lenticular lens type display device.
As used herein, the “planar view” is a visual function that is not based on stereoscopic view.
As used herein, the “display device” for “planar view” refers to a display device that does not have a stereoscopic display function, or a display device that is in a state where a stereoscopic display function is selectively inactivated.
By employing the above configuration, it becomes possible to provide an image producing apparatus capable of producing a screenshot having an increased interest, for example.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the matter disclosed herein will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.